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Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Swashbuckler

2018 - Chapter One: The Day That Never Comes - Post 1 to 634

2019 - Chapter Two: Finding Nemo - Post 635 onwards

Original Post:
I've decided to set up one of these in the hope that every now and then someone will come along and in their good nature, answer one of my many questions about my training. I find I've been posting a lot of questions in the Random Running thread so maybe this is a better way of going about it.

Background
36 year old male. Been running for 7 years but only started properly focusing my training since January. Only learned what a tempo, LSR etc. were this year! Previous to that I just went out most days and ran 6 miles at as fast as I could manage. No direction or focus to my training. Had ran some half marathons and mixed in circuit training. But this year I really fell in love with running. Thanks to advice from people on here and chatting to some advanced runners I've met at many races this year I've manage to see significant improvements.

PB's;
5k - 18:22 - Parkrun (2017)
10k - 37:44 - Run Killarney (2017)
Half Marathon: 1:31:35 Charleville (2012). Most recent Half was in June - Half Thru the Heart which I did in 1:33. Extremely tough course and the distance was a little short.

Short to Medium term targets (over the next ~10 months);
5k - Sub 18
10k - Sub 37
Half Marathon - Sub 1:30

Long term targets/dreams;
5k - Sub 17
10k - Sub 35
Run my first Full Marathon (maybe by end of next year).
Run a really good Full Marathon.

Myself and my wife have a baby on the way so I'd say the training could be impacted for a while but I really hope I can keep it up to the same level.

I generally do two/three sessions a week (mix of intervals and tempo), one long run and the rest easy runs. Train 5-6 times a week with one day off.

I do all my Mon-Fri training within my one hour lunch break. LSR is either at the weekend or in the morning before work.

I know I should probably join a club. I would love to but we'll see how life changes once baby arrives. Even if I could do one session a week with a club I think it would be of benefit.

Last weeks training;
Mon: 7 miles steady/progressive starting at 7min/mile and finishing at 6:30min/mile. I'm thinking this run isn't of much benefit as it's in no mans land pacewise for me?
Tues: 5 x 1 mile intervals. Intervals at 5:50min/mile average with 3min recovery between.
Wednesday: 10k easy/recovery @ 7:30min/mile. Not sure if this should be slower but I read that it's bad to have easy and LSR paces the same i.e. too much running at the slow pace. The 7:30 pace felt easy.
Thursday: 15 mile LSR @ 8min/mile. Total time: 2 hours.
Friday: 4 mile recovery jog @ 8:50 min/mile.
Saturday: Parkrun 5k - 18:22.
Sunday: Rest

Probably overdid it a bit last week. Not sure to be honest but I feel good. I'm still learning. I'll be giving up the Parkruns in a couple of weeks for a while so I wanted to run a couple of them pretty hard to end up on a good note.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm looking to improve and still relatively new to proper training so I'm willing to take any advice on board.

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Comments

Swashbuckler

Cheers D.

Yeah you're right. I like to go on effort. I figure if the effort levels are high (and I fully expect them to be on Sunday as I haven't raced in ages and I'm only coming back to fitness) then the watch isn't gonna give me any good news really. If my pace is slower than I'd like there's not much that can be done about really. If the pace is fast then when the going gets really tough there's an excuse there to hold back a little.

We'll see. Either way I'm going to enjoy being back racing.

El CabaIIo

Good man! Best of luck on Sunday. Should be a good day out anyway.

Baby75

Good luck on Sunday maybe stick the watch in a pocket if you have one

Swashbuckler

El CabaIIo wrote:

Good man! Best of luck on Sunday. Should be a good day out anyway.

Will I finally get to meet the elusive ElC in person?

El CabaIIo

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Will I finally get to meet the elusive ElC in person?

El C doesn't exist, has anyone ever met anyone who has actually met or seen him? It's all just urban myths and stories on the level of Keyser Soze.

OOnegative

El CabaIIo wrote: »

El C doesn't exist, has anyone ever met anyone who has actually met or seen him? It's all just urban myths and stories on the level of Keyser Soze.

Seen a photo of you with a tea cozy on your head, that count?!!

El CabaIIo

OOnegative wrote: »

Seen a photo of you with a tea cozy on your head, that count?!!

I'm doubling down on that restraining order

OOnegative

You surely have an arbitrary time goal in mind? Looking at DD & AMK no interest to scratch the marathon itch?

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote:

You surely have an arbitrary time goal in mind? Looking at DD & AMK no interest to scratch the marathon itch?

Good questions.

To be fair seeing some of the marathon reports and training from the gang on here (not exclusive to DD and AMK) definitely piqued my interest. I love the look of some of the marathon specific sessions. I think I'd really enjoy them. That being said........ There's a few reasons I'm not chasing it yet.

It takes a lot of commitment. More than I can give at the moment I think. I barely manage to get my five midweek runs fit into my lunch hour. Running in the evenings isn't really an option for me as that's my time with wife and baba.

The recovery from them just seems huge.

I would worry a bit about how my body would hold up over marathon training although I'm sure that would be well coached.

I still love the shorter stuff! The dream is to get into as low 5k and 10k as possible. Recovery is quick and can race regularly.

I will run one some day for sure. Just not this year.

As for Adare I figure the endurance might not quite be there yet. In terms of arbitrary time I dunno. I think sub 38 should be doable. I'm genuinely not sandbagging but I don't know if 5.45/5.50 pace is manageable right now. Or 6.00 for that matter!

OOnegative

Jeez P me heart bleeds for ya, only a sub 38!!! I’d need a few lung transplants off mediocre Kenyan’s to even think of such a time.

There’s people that would pay to see yourself, DD, healy1835 and St Tropez in the one race. Dunshaughlin maybe.......

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote:

Thereâ€™s people that would pay to see yourself, DD, healy1835 and St Tropez in the one race. Dunshaughlin maybe.......

Haha I ran 36.05 in Ennis last year and didn't run any 10ks over 38 in 2018 (Adare, Ennis, Ballyheigue, Killarney). But I dunno. We'll see. I definitely feel stronger than I have in a while. Pace for given effort is faster than it was last year but I doubt the endurance is there.

As for a race I think you can add a couple to that list. AMK and Mellow Yellow. Would be great wouldn't it! I plan on being in Dunshaughlin barring a disaster.

Who's St Tropez? I must do some log stalking.

OOnegative

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Haha I ran 36.05 in Ennis last year and didn't run any 10ks over 38 in 2018 (Adare, Ennis, Ballyheigue, Killarney). But I dunno. We'll see. I definitely feel stronger than I have in a while. Pace for given effort is faster than it was last year but I doubt the endurance is there.

As for a race I think you can add a couple to that list. AMK and Mellow Yellow. Would be great wouldn't it! I plan on being in Dunshaughlin barring a disaster.

Who's St Tropez? I must do some log stalking.

St Tropez....... AMK!!!

Not because it rhymes, because he’s as pale as ghost!! Apols to Mellow Yellow to, Sheep is approaching that level and RayCun is always there, yeah serious year for lads all about the one level!!!

We could open a book on Dunshaughlin maybe....

Swashbuckler

I'm very annoyed with myself for missing that joke. Haha.

I think there's two clear leaders in that group right now but we'll catch up.

ariana`

Best of luck at the weekend P, run well with or without the watch!

OOnegative

All the best tomorrow P, have a great race. Run well!!

Kellygirl

Best of luck P. Hope you have a great run.

healy1835

Best of luck tomorrow mate.

Swashbuckler

Cheers folks.... Must charge my watch

Back in Black

Good luck tomorrow!!

skyblue46

All the best tomorrow P. I hope it all goes to plan.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

All the best tomorrow P. I hope it all goes to plan.

Cheers S. There is no plan

Murph_D

Best of luck, P.

eyrie

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Cheers S. There is no plan

That's the best kind of plan

Good luck out there!

Swashbuckler

A solid if unspectacular 37.42. Happy to be back racing. Report will follow once my body gets over this unfamiliar feeling. Haha

Swashbuckler

Adare 10k 2019 Race Report

Sometimes you get what you expect. Sometimes you're surprised. Today I got what I expected and I don't mean that in a negative way. Man it's good to be going through that awful racing feeling again. Haha.

Had been feeling very positive about this one. Had pretty much removed all pressure and thoughts of times. One of the reasons I was thinking of leaving the watch on the subs bench is I didn't want to think about pace. I didn't want to look at the watch and see 6.10 pace and be disappointed. I just wanted to run! Realistically I knew where I was coming from with the bones of a month being injured/burned out and hadn't raced since November. Expectations were low but hope was high. Who knows. Maybe I'll surprise myself. But one of the toughest things (and best things) about racing is it makes an honest man of you. There's no faking it or hiding the last few months. If it's not quite there yet, you'll find out. I always say, it's one thing having great notions and dreaming when you're sitting on the couch or on an easy run but it's a different thing altogether when you're 7k deep into a 10k race and everything is telling you to stop.

I have zero complaints about how I felt on the run up to this. Coach had built up my confidence with the tempo/threshold stuff. I felt good. Training has been going well lately. Not race specific stuff but base building. Had no idea what I was capable of but suspected I might struggle deep into the race especially in Adare which has a tougher second half. Hence the decision was made to leave the watch at home. What difference would it make. Seeing 5.45 or 5.55 or 6.05 would have no bearing on how I felt. Nothing to lose.

Got to Adare nice and early. Was chillier than I expected. Stiff enough breeze. Headed off for a warmup. Went out and back from the start finish line. Could really feel the breeze as I turned back.

Lined up at the start line about four rows back. Some serious quality there. A load of west limerick ac singlets. Some big turnouts from some clubs. Doneraile stood out too. Whistle went and we were off. Settled straight into my pace. Was surprised to see so many ahead of me. Definitely more ahead of me this year. It was a sign of the standard of the field. The winning time was 30.40 and a new course record. Top three ladies were all sub 37.30. Impressive. Settled into a group of three with three others lagging behind a bit.

Felt comfortable enough for the first 2 or 3k. Some lumps and bumps throughout the course. The little group we had worked pretty well together up to 5k. An Riocht and a couple of lads from Mallow. The lads from mallow struggled and dropped off at 5k. By halfway I was working hard enough and the worst of the hills to come. I slipped ahead of An Riocht. By 7k I was deep deep in it. Feeling it and finding the going tough. Lungs shouting at me, the legs heavy and the mind asking me to stop. This wasn't as deep as I've been in the past. I don't think I have the toughness to dip that deep yet. I think if I had I would have stopped.

Hit that fecker of a hill around 8k. An riocht and two west limerick lads had passed me at this stage. I managed to keep in touch with them although one of them pulled well ahead. The 9k marker in Adare is where you can really open up if you have anything left. It's a beaut of a downhill. I managed to pass one of the west limerick lads but an riocht and the other lad had pulled away. Got to within a few seconds of one of them but not quite enough. Had a peek at the clock as I approached and it wasn't the surprise I hoped for. Funny how the internal GPS is pretty accurate. If you had asked me what time I'd finish after 9.5k id have guessed maybe mid 37s. And that would've been almost bang on. 37.42 official time. Took a while to catch my breath. Met up with some other buddies as they finished and met my two biggest supporters - wife and baba. Headed back to the hall for some sandwiches. Great spread.

Genuinely one of the better races around. Everything about it is well run. I couldn't fault it. Results are up on the wall by the time you get to the hall. Very well done to west limerick ac. I'll always try to include this race in my calendar. A fair enough route with plenty of lumps and bumps but nothing awful and a very competitive field.

I wouldn't say I'm happy with how it went but I'm not unhappy either. It's a decent run, nothing more. A starting point and a benchmark for improvement. It's a funny old game. You spend months away from racing, you're all excited about getting back into it and 6k into it you're asking yourself "what the f*ck was I missing about this! ". But then you finish and all those lovely endorphins are floating about.
I'm looking forward to the work ahead. I'm not all that pleased with my form at the end after seeing the video my wife recorded. My heels are barely making it up to knee height. Plenty of work ahead. Delighted to be back racing.

Next up is the Munster 4 miler next weekend. Will give that a lash.

AuldManKing

Super - Good man - its early in the season and you're just back - so a great run by you.
I'd say a lot more to come as the weeks progress.

OOnegative

Get a bit more endurance into those legs as I said last night you’ll come on loads, nice early season marker P.

eyrie

Welcome back! Great to see this. Not the time you want I know but the attitude sounds spot on and I've no doubt the times won't be long coming back. Very honest assessment too, but sure we'd expect nothing less from you

Duanington

Well done on the racing comeback P - no doubt you'll fine tune things over the next while and hone in on that racing art a bit more

ariana`

Great report P. And great comeback too. Like eyrie i love the honesty in your reports, there's so much i could learn from your attitude to racing. I love that you didn't give in and wear the watch too, very admirable. It'd kill me afterward not being able to analyse the splits and all the other bits of data but really you know yourself what happened out there and it's all just confirmation of that really isn't it. Fair play to you, sounds like an honest effort and a honest result too